London metropolitan area

The London commuter belt is a metropolitan area that includes London and its surrounding commuter zone (the area in which it is practical to commute to work in London). It is also known as the London metropolitan area, or Southeast metropolitan area. It should not be confused with Greater London or the Greater London Built-up Area.

The most up-to-date population figures are from Eurostat, that the London metropolitan area is the largest in the EU with a population of 13,879,757 (in 2013, provisionally 14,031,830 in 2014).

The boundaries are not fixed; they expand as transport options improve and affordable housing moves further away from city centre. The belt currently covers much of the South East region and part of the East of England region, including the home counties of Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Surrey, Kent and Essex, and, by several definitions, Hampshire, West Sussex, East Sussex and Bedfordshire.

The population of Greater London and those counties adjacent to the green belt was 18,868,800 in 2011. Much of the undeveloped part of this area lies within the designated Metropolitan Green Belt, which covers nearly all of Surrey, eastern Berkshire, southern Buckinghamshire, southern and mid Hertfordshire, southern Bedfordshire, south-west Essex, and western Kent. In addition, three Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (the Chiltern Hills, Surrey Hills and North Downs AONBs) surrounding the Thames basin are within the commuter belt.

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